IDBI Bank attempts to pull emotional chords with its friendship tale

Living up to the promise of taking care as a true friend, IDBI Bank has launched four new ad films on the theme ‘Bank Aisa Dost Jaisa’. Conceptualised by Ogilvy & Mather, the core idea the new campaign attempts to communicate is that IDBI takes care of its customers like true friends

While friendship was always the ultimate message in all of the previous work of the brand, this time it decided to refresh the communication and say it differently.

One of the films opens with a little girl and boy sitting on the school ground and the girl says that one day she was suffering from cold and she didn't have a handkerchief but the boy gave his tie to wipe her nose. The second ad opens with a girl and fat boy sitting on a bench in their school. The boy says that everyone calls him 'motu' in school, tuition and play-ground. However, the girl next to him always calls him by his name and so she is his best friend.

The third film opens with two boys standing in their school’s corridor. One boy says that one day his pant got torn and his friend stood behind him throughout the day and even dropped him to his home after school. He concludes by saying that he is his best friend.

The fourth ad opens with a Punjabi girl and boy and the little boy is seen peeling off sugarcane. The girl says that she loves eating sugarcane. However, she is getting her new teeth and can’t peel sugarcane, so her friend is doing that for her. All the four ads have a voiceover in the end that says, “Aisi Dosti Agar Ek Bank Nibhaye toh?” and ends with the tagline, “Bank Aisa Dost Jaisa”.

On the idea behind the campaign, Piyush Pandey, Executive Chairman and Creative Director, South Asia, Ogilvy & Mather said, “Our initial thrust for IDBI Bank a few years ago had been to tell the world that just because we are a big nation-building bank, does not mean that we are not approachable to address your smallest need. And now when we look at the next step in the evolution of the communication, what better than the universal emotion of childhood friendships to symbolise the role that IDBI Bank plays in its customers’ and partners’ lives.”

Abhijit Avasthi, National Creative Director, Ogilvy & Mather added, “When we started work on the new campaign of IDBI Bank, we were very clear that we are changing the campaign and not the values that the Bank stands for. The idea we came up with does exactly this. In an innocent and charming way, we are telling people, ‘what if a bank would do what a friend would do’. When you say something like this, you really don’t need to say much more.”

Will the innocence of kids help?
Expert takeBodhisatwa Dasgupta, Creative Director, Grey Worldwide said, “I quite like the entire series actually. And not because of the insight – I think the insight in itself is quite generic. I like it because all four films are very beautiful films; they're beautifully written – and they touch you somewhere. We’ve all had these ‘best friends’ back in our innocent childhood. Friends who’ve stood up for you, took care of you, loved you. It reminds us of a friendship we once had, a friendship not based on gives and takes. Is it something new or startlingly for a bank to say? No.
But has it touched the Indian heart? Absolutely,” he said.

Bodhi stated, “The job of advertising stops there as far as I’m concerned. Whether people actually convert to IDBI Bank depends entirely on their portfolio of services. Not how friendly they are.”

Our take
Emotional, innocent and cute – these are the three words that define the new ads of IDBI Bank. The films have been executed brilliantly with the kids. The chemistry between two innocent children has been portrayed very well in all the films.

The insight of a bank behaving like a true friend is not new but the little kids have played their part so well that the ad becomes memorable. The silly but sweet conversations between two friends make everyone remember that one friend in life who will stand for us in any situation. The film showing a little school boy narrating about his torn pant is the best in the series. Kudos to the team and the little stars for the dialogues and the brilliant acting.

Several brands have used kids but never with such a lovely take. ICICI Bank also used kids in their ad, but the humming jingle stood out. For Flipkart as well the childlike adults have played an instrumental role and we believe that this emotional connect with kids with a sweet taste of friendship will be a game-changer for the brand. And what’s better than the ad guru himself narrating the friendship tale.